Man with hatchet tries to board Texas school bus filled with children

A man was arrested after he tried to get on a Sherman ISD school bus filled with children while carrying a hatchet Wednesday afternoon, but he later told Sherman TV station KXII that he’s sorry he did it.

Parents started to show up after they got text messages from their children telling them they weren't allowed to get off of the bus at the stop on South Gribble Street near downtown.

Sherman ISD Assistant Superintendent Tyson Bennett, said a man police later identified as Dennis Michael Richardson, 59, of Sherman, tried to board the bus during a routine stop.

Bennett said the man got to the top step of the bus when the driver told him told him to get off, and he exited.

The bus driver immediately contacted the school's transportation department, which called 911.

"We take this very seriously individuals cannot board our buses. It is a crime to board our buses, and we will take that very seriously. Sherman Police Department does as well, and they will be engaged by our driver," Bennett said.

Bennett said Richardson didn't make contact with the kids, and there were no injuries.

Police later said Richardson complied with the bus driver's command to leave the bus.

When police located Richardson, they say they determined that he did not threaten anyone or attempt to assault anyone with the hatchet, but he did enter a school bus without consent.

Police say he was arrested for criminal trespass and taken to the Grayson County Jail, where he remained in custody Thursday, according to online records.

Richardson told KXII he spotted two children playing with a hatchet in the yard of his home and decided to take the hatchet away and then tell the bus driver about the incident.

"When I was walking back to the house I said to myself 'that wasn't one of my better ideas,’”" Richardson said.

"Apparently I wasn't thinking right when I went on the bus with the axe because that wasn't a good idea but I was just trying to get his attention to tell him what the kids were bringing to the bus stop," Richardson said.